Smoke and mirrors
Thought I would wait till you guys got back this week as I guess you had the skellys out of the cupboard covering the Inbox last week. Like many others here I watched some of the E3 live feeds and caught up with some new trailers last week, my question is two-fold: 1. How many of the games shown for next gen consoles were actually running on the consoles themselves (or close approximations to such) and 2. When you go to the big companies briefing do they disclose the hardware the demos (destiny, Metal Gear Solid V, etc.) are running on to the audience as I imagine most are running in high end uber-PCs I suppose.

Look forward to hearing about Dark Souls II as well, byesey bye. Oh and good work skellingtons!MGB132g (PSN ID)

GC: Two very good questions. In recent years it’s become increasingly common for games to be demoed on a PC as a matter of routine. Some games at E3 were running on next gen hardware but we usually had to ask specifically to find out which, and it wasn’t unusual to find developers unwilling to admit which format the game was running on. We try to always indicate their answer in our previews though.

As for your second point, that’s impossible to verify and we wouldn’t necessarily believe a company’s answer anyway. The majority of what you see at a media briefing will be faked in some way, to limit the chances of something going wrong on stage – as happened during the Battlefield 4 demo. It later transpired that almost everything from the Xbox One unveil event in May was faked, from the Skype conversation to the switching from TV to game. That doesn’t mean the real thing won’t work, it just means Microsoft doesn’t want it looking that way in front of millions of people.

Oh dear. So does this qualify as bending the truth or just barefaced lies if the Xbox One software isn’t actually running on…you know…an Xbox One. Or maybe this is the new Xbone homescreen.DlSPOSABLE HERO (gamertag)/ DlSPOSABLE_HERO7 (PSN ID)/DlSPOSABLE.HERO (Nintendo ID)

GC: We’ve used your pic above.

Three decades late
Hello all. I am going to buy a PlayStation 4, but not for a long time yet. Normally, I buy a new console about two years into its life, so that any bugs have been ironed out, and the game developers have gotten used to the system. So, I was thinking of getting a Wii U.

Now, I know that there is (rightly) a lot of negativity toward this console, but, the thing is, I have never owned a Nintendo console, and have only ever played one Nintendo game in my decades of gaming. So, what with the slowly expanding eShop, is the Wii U the best way for a Nintendo virgin like me to start playing with the likes of Mario and Zelda?Terry Hurley

GC: We think you’re in the unique position where it is absolutely impossible to be disappointed by the Wii U. We envy you the discoveries to come.

Doesn’t suit you
PjDonnelli, Nice Readers’ Feature. You made some good points, especially about how it might be a good idea to wait a while to see how the battle between the big consoles pans out before choosing which to buy. This wait would allow you to see how Microsoft’s restrictions are affecting the early adopters. You could check to see how many messages saying ‘Lousy piece of garbage Xbone won’t let me play my games’ appear on the Internet.

Of course the problem with waiting a couple of years is that by then there will be a machine available that effortlessly handles all your telly, even 4K, does Skype calls, and plays games in a much higher resolution and glitzy effects than either Sony or Microsoft. That nice Xbox One gamepad plugs right into your PC as well.

Your point about not wanting to see the Xbox One fail is very valid. Maybe Sony wouldn’t be charging for multiplayer if it weren’t for Microsoft’s PR disaster. But personally, neither console gets me that excited and I’d love to see the Xbox One as a spectacular failure. It would serve as a cautionary tale for any suits who think DRM is a pretty nifty idea.Frank87

Nintendo of the gaps
What the **** is going on at Nintendo? I’ve grown up with and love Nintendo and of course love Mario, Zelda, etc… However, the Wii U situation is really trying my patience and loyalty. I bought the Wii U day one with New Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo Land, and ZombiU and have been waiting patiently for six to seven months now for any hint of news about upcoming releases from my favourite Nintendo franchises and so I allowed myself that glimmer of hope when Nintendo acknowledged the situation and promised some major announcements around E3.

All I really wanted was a brand new epic 3D Mario adventure akin to Super Mario 64/Galaxy and a brand new Mario Kart, both to be released this year but instead what do I get? A 2014 release for Mario Kart and a lazy, blatant stop-gap, ‘new’ Mario game which looks like nothing more than a revamped Super Mario 3D Land.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved 3D Land but this is not what I expect from Wii U.Why is it even called ‘3D World’ it’s barely 3D, it’s more like 2.5D with its side-on and isometric viewpoints. At least 3D Land got its name from the fact that it was in 3D on 3DS. It just seems to me like Nintendo are absolutely struggling to develop for Wii U in a timely manner and have instead taken to ‘filling in the gaps’ initially with an easy New Super Mario Bros. 2D and this ‘all-new’ Mario adventure which looks like it’s just using the same engine and ideas as 3D Land.

I have no doubt that this new Mario game will be good but do I think it will be great and be recognised as a modern classic like the Galaxy games? No, and it doesn’t even look like they’re trying to make it like that either. Not good enough Nintendo.ColdRoses (PSN ID)/HighFlyingBird (Nintendo ID)

Delayed decision
Well, I popped into my local Sainsbury’s store on Friday to pre-order my lad’s PlayStation 4 for this Christmas and I just hope I’ve made the right choice for them because in all honesty after watching an E3 special of Blurb last night I think practically the PlayStation 4 has to be the right choice for my 8 and 10 year old as they don’t need all the multimedia bells and whistles at their age in their bedroom. And the added complications of second-hand games, taking games round to a friend’s house, etc.

But seeing all the games Microsoft had on show, especially their exclusive titles I must admit it did make the PlayStation 4 line-up quite weak in comparison. So because I just want them to have a games machine to primarily play games I’m now seriously thinking of putting down a pre-order for the Xbox One now, then decide nearer the time to weigh up the plus and minuses between the two consoles. Decisions, decisions?!JAH

GC: Are there really that many Xbox One exclusives that are suitable for an eight-year-old?

Launch offer
I think that people should have a look at the cost of games for the next generation systems. Currently most online stores have them listed between £55/£60 per game and I find this unacceptable (even more so with the restrictions that are being forced on consumers on the new consoles).

I don’t know if these prices are just placeholders but in these times where you can get games from 69p, how can anyone justify that sort of price hike?Paul

GC: As we’ve pointed out before this is completely normal for the launch of a new console, the same thing happened with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Assuming there is no general price increase – and everything so far suggests there isn’t – they’ll settle back down within a month or two of the new console’s being released.

A good day to bury bad news
I can’t understand everyone making these bold statements of ‘I’m definitely getting a PlayStation 4’ already. We’re only in June, still five months away from anything being launched – which by my calculations means there is still a lot of time for both companies to change strategies. I honestly can’t see myself even bothering with any console for at least 12 months. At £350+ it would be an expensive mistake to buy at launch, only to find you’ve backed the wrong one.

On another point, I noticed Sony saying online now costs to play, so GC did they mention anything about it being run on dedicated servers or if they’re going to keep a similar setup as on PlayStation 3? (Which in my opinion is terrible compared to Xbox Live Arcade.)Capt Krysis

GC: They barely even mentioned the pricing at all, just slipped it out in amongst all the good news. No details were provided, but the implication was it would be the same setup.

Games for girls
I’m looking for advice from the GC community here. Occasionally my housemate’s DS and Wii owning 10 and nine-year-old nieces pop over for a couple of hours whilst their parents are tied up. They enjoy Mario Kart and wrestling games, however I’m sorely lacking in child friendly games for my Xbox 360. After they grew bored of Doritos Crash Course I took a risk and let them loose on Dead Rising 2: Off The Record’s sandbox mode (on the basis that there’s no bad language or any of the story modes gory cut scenes and that the violence is suitably cartoony and unrealistic but yeah, I’m prepared to be called a bad man here).

They squealed with equal delight at the zombie slaying and dressing Frank up in ever more bizarre costumes so that was a hit. However I figured that one of the Sonic racing games would be worth investing in. To be honest, as a lifelong Sega fan it really is about time I picked one of the games up but assuming I can get the original for significantly cheaper is Transformed so much of an improvement to make spending a bit more worthwhile? For example, I read one opinion that the original has better fan service.

Also, I know wrestling games haven’t gotten particularly stellar reviews this generation but which one is the best/least bad on Xbox? Cheers in advance.Meestah Bull (gamertag)
PS: They also like Just Dance on Wii but tragically I don’t own Kinect. Such a shame!

GC: We much preferred Transformed and although the characters are different in each the fan service is about equal in both. We’re not sure we could really recommend any wrestling games from the current gen, especially as it’s not really our area of expertise. But have you considered Viva Piñata or Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts?

Same as it ever was
Can you please make it clear, as many readers have missed it and I don’t want anyone disappointed, that the PlayStation 4 will in fact have DRM (this info is easily available online, with official quotes) in almost similar terms to Microsoft, it is up to each third party. Sony definitely lost a sale in me by saying it’s DRM-free and then as soon as their conference is over saying ‘Yeah, it does really. That was a complete lie’.

It’s also worth noting that the PlayStation 3 already has a form of DRM in Cross Buy titles (second-hand copies cannot get the PS Vita version from the store if its already been redeemed) I do think that the only publisher that will use DRM is the same one that you always see in the pre-owned bargain bin (because of trash games): EA.Chocobogamer
PS: To those that have added me, I will get around to accepting you one day!

GC: Sony never said the PlayStation 4 wouldn’t have DRM at all, they said there wouldn’t be any new restrictions beyond what exists for the current generation. On the PlayStation 3 publishers are already able to instigate online passes and the like, especially because they run the servers for their games – not Sony. EA though, the main proponent of this sort of thing, recently dropped online passes from their most recent titles.

Consumer choice
I just wanted to respond to PjDonnelli’s article at the weekend. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion, but so much was incorrect about this article it’s difficult to know where to start, but let’s begin with the title – which was a contradiction in itself. As someone in the Underbox amusingly pointed out, restrictions tend to be… well, restrictive, they stop you by nature of what they are. If you end up buying an Xbox One you will be restricted in how you use it for gaming regardless of what your attitude towards it is.

It seems to me you’re entering a debate with fairly robust opinions without really understanding what the issues are all about here. There’s a big difference between encouraging people to be online with their consoles, and forcing them to be online on a daily basis. I’ve no doubt your high-speed Internet connection works fantastically well most of the time, but these practices have nothing to do with advancing technology or ‘making a console for the future’, they have everything to do with imposing restrictions on the consumer purely for the benefit of the company. It makes the device reliant on something totally unnecessary to function as a games console, with no tangible advantage to the gamer.

You’ve also mentioned many times now on these pages about how the online requirements of the Xbox One ‘won’t affect’ you. Not only could you experience a problem with your own Internet going down, you have no control over what happens at Microsoft’s end. Your own naivety is irrelevant, there could very conceivably be a reason why you may not be able to sign in with these daily mandatory online checks, and I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Microsoft stopping you altogether when the Xbox Two is released in six or seven years’ time, which you’ll no doubt be buying into as well.

Should you ever experience these scenarios yourself, you’ll (temporarily at least) be in possession of a very expensive DVD/Blu-ray player with equally expensive games which you won’t be able to play. I can’t help thinking a certain PjDonnelli would be the first person to rant about how unacceptable that would be in the Inbox pages were that to be the case. You’re not a spokesperson for companies like EA or Microsoft so I honestly don’t know what your ultimate purpose is in defending these large corporations at the expense of consumer rights… each to their own I suppose.Chico79

Inbox also-rans
Take a Call of Doody disc. Take a firm grip. Now snap it in half and throw it in the bin. Take a Tom Clancy’s The Division disc. Insert into the console of your choice. Use whatever expletives that come to mind. Enjoy. The next generation has arrived.RKB_MONKEYBOY (PSN ID)

GC: We could imagine quite a few expletives if you tried to get it to work on a Dreamcast.

Nintendo hit the right note with another trailer for X. At least Sony finally showed what the PlayStation 4 looks like and Microsoft confirmed DRM.stanley71

This week’s Hot Topic
Next week is the E3 expo in Los Angeles, always the biggest video games trade event of the year. But the importance of the 2013 expo has been magnified a 100 times by the fact that both Microsoft and Sony will be showing off their consoles for the first time in playable form.

GameCentral will be there all week but in the meantime we want to know what you hope and expect to see at the show. What games are you most looking forwards to and what announcements do you most want to hear? What new information do you expect to hear about the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and what will you be disappointed by if it’s not announced?

Whether serious or not, can you make any predictions about the biggest surprises at the show? From games becoming single format exclusives to unexpected sequels, what’s the most shocking thing you think could plausibly happen? When making any predications though please try and make a distinction between what you want to be announced and what you think will actually happen.